The government and the military live in a war culture, but we the citizenry do not. The U.S. populace has had to make no direct sacrifice on a personal level -- no rationing, no real emotional tie with our troops and no citizen participation or support. If you doubt this, think about how many people drive their gas-guzzlers to anti-war rallies. It's life as usual.

Bridget Rivero, San Francisco

We live in a culture in which materialism trumps everything. Combine rampant greed with scary science and a war culture seems inevitable. Kids are saturated with violent images, and it's difficult for them to get an education. Viola!

It sure seems like it. The top guys want to blast everybody else out of existence, those targeted want to blast us out of existence, we innocent citizens are caught in the middle, and, of course, the top guys already have their bunkers prepared.

Absolutely. The top-selling video games are about war. Awhile back it was fashionable for rappers to wear bulletproof vests. And cable networks spend millions to promote their coverage of the war. We are a war culture because war sells.

Jan Howe, San Ramon

For over 200 years, the United States has been involved in battles covertly or overtly on most continents. We have wars on drugs, obesity, poverty, AIDS -- you name it. Our vocabulary is fraught with terms of war, and our entertainments and sports are quasi-wars with winners and losers. "Competition" is just a more palatable synonym for "war." We can't live without our adversity.